Jump to content

Search notes in native search app?


Recommended Posts

There is in mine too. Im on Yosemite. But the whole idea with Alfred is to get search results in the Alfred window. For me at least. I write things in different places and different devices so it would be neat to get the seach results from  within notes in Alfred search.

There is an old extension out there, but seem to only work with Alfred v1.

http://jdfwarrior.tumblr.com/post/29413140710/searching-notes-with-alfred#permalink-notes

Link to comment

OK, well, I followed David's instructions and it works for me fine in Alfred:

 

1: Make a new workflow [Templates > Files and Apps > File Filter from keyword and open]

2: Add an Input > File Filter

3: For keyword you can use whatever you want, David suggested Notes ... you can leave 'with space' checked.

4: In the "File Types" area at the bottom, just drag one of your '.notesexternalrecord' files in.

5: In the Search Scope tab, you can add the "0" folder of your external records ... to limit to just that one folder IE:

 

~/Library/Containers/com.apple.Notes/Data/Library/CoreData/ExternalRecords/(a bunch of numbers)/IMAPNote/_records/0

 

6: In the advanced tab, click the "+" button at the bottom right of the Fields ... to add "kMDItemTextContent"

7: Save

 

Now, when you type notes with a space, and your keyword ... whichever note you select will open from within Alfred.

Link to comment
  • 1 month later...

If i search for a specific word I used in a note in the native OSX Yosemite Notes.app, search results show up in the native Spotlight search but not in alfred search, isnt that strange?

 

It's not really strange, no, because Alfred isn't configured to search for documents of the type Notes nor in the directory where they're kept by default.

 

If you add the appropriate directory (posted above) to Alfred's Search Scope and drag one of your notes into the "User-defined file types" list under Default Results > Extras > Advanced…, then Alfred will search your notes very effectively.

Edited by deanishe
Link to comment
  • 6 months later...

here's my workflow done by tweaking with RodgerWW's instruction. Feel free to download & install it.

link to Search through Notes

 

Enjoy!

 

By the way, Alfred! The process of sharing the workflows in your app is very difficult, in fact I can't simply upload the file to a topic. Do sth about it! It's to our all advantage to utilise others' work without having to go through unnecessary hassle of creating a new workflow.

Link to comment

By the way, Alfred! The process of sharing the workflows in your app is very difficult, in fact I can't simply upload the file to a topic. Do sth about it! It's to our all advantage to utilise others' work without having to go through unnecessary hassle of creating a new workflow.

Bottom line, a forum is not a good platform for distributing workflows.

The de facto way to share workflows is via Packal and/or GitHub.

Packal is a much more effective platform for finding specific workflows, and GitHub is fantastic for collaborative development of workflows.

This forum serves primarily as a place to talk about workflows, which is what a forum is best at.

Your link is broken. It appears to point to a local directory on your machine.

I'd recommend creating a GitHub account and uploading the workflow and source code there (so others can contribute). Uploading the workflow to Packal is also a very good idea. It's where people look for workflows and it offers an updater workflow/app that can install updated versions of workflows for you.

Link to comment

"I'd recommend creating a GitHub account and uploading the workflow and source code there (so others can contribute). Uploading the workflow to Packal is also a very good idea. It's where people look for workflows and it offers an updater workflow/app that can install updated versions of workflows for you."

 

deanishe! I understand that the Packal and GitHub are better platforms for sharing workflows since those functions of communal development and updating. However, you've missed my entire point. People, incl. me, don't have time for such things. The bottom line of using Alfred on Mac is to make life simple. If Alfred wants us to share our workflows, may he develop the function of "share" in the app so that it will do the things his or your way. Currently you can only export your workflow to a folder via this route, that's far too simple. End of story...

 

Mind you! This should be got across and end up directly at the Alfred's desktop, therefore I'd be grateful if one (hopefully you Deanishe) relay this to him.

Link to comment

I've just set up a new topic in the section of workflows where I shared the workflow. It should be easily recoverable via a search engine of this forum. But in case you couldn't find it, here you are: http://www.alfredforum.com/topic/7590-search-through-notes-for-a-word-or-phrase/

 

This way, should I make any updates in the workflow in the future, anyone interested will get the newest version for sure in one place.

Link to comment

However, you've missed my entire point.

 

Sorry. Your entire point wasn't very clear.

 

The bottom line of using Alfred on Mac is to make life simple. If Alfred wants us to share our workflows, may he develop the function of "share" in the app so that it will do the things his or your way. Currently you can only export your workflow to a folder via this route, that's far too simple. End of story...

 

Fundamentally, sharing workflows in a useful way is not a simple process. Even if there were a one-click solution, there would still be a good deal of up-front configuration involved. If you want to take the quick-and-dirty route, well it's hard to further simplify clicking "Export…" and dropping the resulting file in your Dropbox or Google Drive folder.

 

What's more, if Andrew allowed users to share workflows directly from within Alfred, he and Vero would really have to check each and every workflow to make sure they aren't doing anything malicious (to avoid damage to Alfred's reputation), which would be a significant drain on their resources and eat up time better spent on improving Alfred itself.

 

Practically (and possibly even legally), sharing workflows is better kept at arm's length from the Alfred application.

 

Certainly, the competition (LaunchBar, Quicksilver) do not make it any easier to share their own flavour of workflows.

 

If you can think of a better solution, I'd love to hear it. Seriously.

Link to comment

sorry, I don't have time to involve in this discussion. It's up to creator's of the app to make the process easier and unlike you, I'm convinced that they as well as users will benefit from it. After all, what would be the Alfred app without contibution of its users?

I have to leave you on this note. As I said I don't have time to mull over the issue for all its importance but I'm sure you and others will find better and even safer solution then current state of affairs.

Cheers!

Link to comment

unlike you, I'm convinced that they as well as users will benefit from it. After all, what would be the Alfred app without contibution of its users?

 

That's an entirely wrong assumption on your part. I believe exactly the same. I dare say most forum members do.

 

However, some of us have spent a good deal of time thinking about exactly this problem, and we understand that it really isn't as simple as you assume it to be.

Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...